Perpetual Carouse

PerpetualCarouse: You mean they're not all vegetarians?

Kara Zuaro: Nope -- there are a bunch of serious carnivores in the mix. The Decemberists are into pork loin and the Violent Femmes shared their recipe for Wild Boar Ragu.

PC: Do you play in a band?

KZ: The last band I was in was my middle school jazz band, and I had to play an "In the Mood" solo on my saxophone. I killed it, but I also learned that being on stage is not at all fun for me. That was my final public performance.

PC: How did you find all the recipes?

KZ: I started collecting recipes from my friends bands, then started picking them up from bands I had to interview for writing assignments, and then, once I got a book deal, I got the word out to music publicists and told all the bands who'd already submitted recipes to tell their friends about the book. Around that time, I would wake up every morning to find a crazy new recipe that had been emailed to me-- it was like Christmas every day.

PC: How did you decide what to include? Was it based on the food alone, or were you trying to create a balance of different bands?

KZ: Well, after I got a book deal, my editor told me that I needed recipes from at least 100 bands, so I took whatever I could get. I only used one recipe per band, but some sent me a bunch of recipes -- so I made cuts based on what recipes I already had. Like, My Morning Jacket sent me a sandwich recipe and a lentil soup recipe, but I had to use the sandwich because I already had lentil soup from the Black Hollies. And I used Nada Surf's mojito recipe instead of their tomato sauce recipe because I already had one from the Concretes.

PC: Was writing this book anything like trying to put together the perfect mix-tape, but with food?

KZ: Yeah, it kind of was. While I was testing the recipes, I'd try to build menus out of the book -- like the Decendents Pico de Gallo with RJD2's Fish Tacos with Avocados, Bratmobile's Party At Your Own Risk Sangria, and Devendra Banhart's Africanitas Ritas, which are fried bananas. Then, I'd put all the bands' CDs on shuffle while I was cooking. That's a fun way to use the book.

PC: Now that the book is out, are people coming out of the woodwork with new recipes?

KZ: Since the book's release, I've only gotten one new recipe. This local Brooklyn band called Mighty High was really disappointed that there are no weed recipes in it, so they printed up their recipe herbally-enhanced chocolate cookies with peanut chips. (I haven't tried them yet.)

PC: What's in the book that shouldn't taste good, but it does?

KZ: Death Cab for Cutie's Veggie Sausage and Peanut Butter Sandwich. It sounds revolting, but it's really pretty tasty. Some veggie sausage links are really creepy in terms of flavor and texture, but I really like Morningstar Farms Breakfast Patties.

PC: Do you have a favorite?

KZ: Patrick Phelan's Swanky Mac & Cheese -- with lobster, fontina, gruyere, and truffle oil -- it totally labor-intensive, expensive to make, and ridiculously rich. I love it -- I've made it a couple of times for special occasions.

PC: In the book you talk about your New Favorite Song. What is it right now?

KZ: Oh man, this isn't a new song, but I'm can't stop listening to the Blow's "Hey Boy." I snuck into a show at NYU a couple of weeks ago and to see Khaela Maricich play -- it was the raddest thing I've seen in a long time.

PC: How about a New Favorite Recipe?

KZ: Rolled Breast of Chicken Glazed with Pomegranate from Paula Wolfert's *The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean.* It's not a new book, but I just tried this dish last week -- you have to pound the chicken breast really thin, then roll it around fresh mozzarella, which is sprinkled with hot Hungarian paprika. Then, you tie up the rolls with string and brush them with pomegranate molasses and mayonnaise before you roast them. So much fun to make and so delicious.

PC: Who would win in an Iron Chef-style battle, Belle & Sebastian or Camera Obscura?

KZ: Well, Mick from Belle & Sebastian specializes in sandwiches, and I really admire his use of fried halloumi, but Gavin from Camera Obscura has an Iron Chef-style story behind his vegetarian paella. After his band toured through Spain, he saw all of these delicious-looking, saffron-infused dishes -- but couldn't eat them because he doesn't eat meat. So, he bought a bag of saffron, went home, and started incorporating it into vegetarian recipes. Making something delicious out of saffron and faux-meat isn't easy -- I think Gavin would destroy on Iron Chef.

PC: What was the first recipe you got for the book?

KZ: When I first started exchanging recipes with my friends in bands, I wasn't thinking about publishing a cookbook -- but then I had this day-long interview/hang-out with Death Cab and mentioned the recipe swap. When they told me about their Veggie Sausage and Peanut Butter
Sandwich, it really planted the seed for the book.

PC: Any bands that you would have liked to have in the book that aren't in there?

KZ: I would have liked to include something from one of the former members of Pavement, a Smashing Pumpkins recipe, a drink recipe from Guided By Voices, something awesome from Ween. I dreamed of getting an in-her-own-words recipe from Tori Amos -- I mean, what's dinner at her house like? One of the most exciting parts for me was getting recipes from the bands I loved in high school, and all of these would have fallen into that category. I've loved Archers of Loaf since I was a teenager, and it was awesome when I met Eric Bachmann and he started dictating his recipe for Seared Tuna with Wasabi-Coconut Sauce.

PC: Which recipes were the most surprising?

KZ: I was pretty surprised by Les Savy Fav's recipe for Butterscotch Pie -- a lovely, mellow dessert from a really crazy band. I just did a ceviche-making demonstration at a cooking store called the Brooklyn Kitchen with their singer, Tim Harrington, and I was so nervous that he was going to make me roll around in raw fish with him and burn our clothes on the stove top. As it turned out, he took it really seriously and he was great -- he gave an Alton Brown-style lecture of the chemical process of ceviche while I chopped cilantro.

PC: There are a couple of ramen recipes in the book. How many other ramen recipes did you get from the bands?

KZ: I only got two ramen recipes -- one for ramen with extra seasoning from Strung Out, and another for ramen mixed with a can of corn from NOFX. I included both of them, and I hope they inspire college kids to mix up their usual ramen routine a little bit.

PC: You mentioned The Lemonheads in one of your intros...if Evan Dando came over for a potluck, what would he bring?

KZ: It's hard to say -- I met Evan once, but he didn't have any recipes. Maybe he'd bring a bottle of booze?

PC: Care to share a recipe of your own?

KZ: I'm not sure if you'll have room for them, but I've attached recipes for my grandma's meatballs and sauce. It's something I like to make when my friends' bands are in town. If you want something simpler -- my favorite lunch these days is a banana, peanut butter, and fig sandwich on multigrain bread. It's pretty self-explanatory – and even better if you can find fresh-ground peanut butter. None of the ingredients need to be refrigerated, so it's something I would probably eat a lot if I were on tour.

PC: What are your favorite things to cook?

KZ: I like to cook the things I have trouble finding in restaurants-- like really interesting, exciting vegetarian fare, and Moroccan food (which is usually not vegetarian). Like I said before, I'm a big fan of Paula Wolfert and I've learned so much about this cuisine from her books. There aren't any great Moroccan restaurants here in New York, but I was recently in Paris for my honeymoon and we had the most amazing Moroccan meal.

PC: Rachael Ray or Ina Garten?

KZ: Ina! I really admire her calm and elegant approach to entertaining. I enjoy hanging out in the kitchen for as long as possible, so 30-minute meals aren't really for me.

PC: What are your top 5 most-played songs in iTunes?

KZ: These were all once my "New Favorite Song" -- Prince's "Kiss," Nada Surf's "Blankest Year," Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" (Hammerstein Odeon, Live '75 version), Devendra Banhart's "At the Hop," and a really pretty song by I Am Kloot called "Astray." This is a little skewed because I listen to a lot of vinyl -- the list would be very different if I had the Beatles and E.L.O. on my computer.

PC: How about 5 most recently played?

KZ: "Bermuda Highway" by My Morning Jacket, "Sing Wide" by Little Wings, "Stem" by Hayden, "Carolina" by Ben Gibbard (solo), and "Sweet Marie" by Crooked Fingers. These are all on a playlist of my favorite songs from bands in the book, which I listened to constantly while I was working on it -- since the book came out, I've been listening to all those songs again.

[A shorter version of this interview originally appeared in the 5/24/07 San Francisco print edition of The Onion.]